Path Dependence and Paradigm Shift: How Cetacean Scientists Learned to Develop Management Procedures that Survived the Controversial Whaling Regime

The transformation of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) into a preservationist regime met with extremely fierce opposition from the prowhaling countries and created an unprecedented and famous polarization of the IWC parties into pro and antiwhaling camps, which can be observed even today. In such a bipolar and harsh process, it would be typically argued that scientific advice would be powerless because it would become subject to heightened scrutiny from both camps resulting in endless technical debate. Our case shows that, on the contrary, the advisory scientists learned to successfully develop a scientific management procedure that was accepted by both the pro and antiwhaling camps. The objective of this paper is to explain this process and examine to what extent collective learning in the assessment process affected the political effectiveness of the management procedure and, more broadly thereby, to contribute to the groundwork of analyzing how the scientists participating in the scientific assessments collectively learn. With a view to cross‐fertilization between institutionalism and science and technology study (STS) approaches, we develop an analytical framework and apply it to the international whaling regime to examine the usefulness of it and provide some general lessons to be learned for making learning assessments more effective. The framework was capable of showing that path dependency and paradigm shift were among the key factors of the scientific assessment's increased effectiveness. Overall, the cross‐fertilization between institutionalism and STS appears to be a fruitful way forward for the next generation of scientific assessment studies.     

论过失

立足于结果无价值论的旧过失论立场,过失就是对于客观的构成要件要素的认识与预见可能性,实务上理解的过失是注意义务违反,界定了其与旧过失论之间的关系,结果回避义务与客观的构成要件该当性相关,而作为责任要素,则应该要求对于引起构成要件该当事实的预见可能性与预见义务的违反。     

Confrontation or coexistence: The national reconciliation process in Cambodia

On October 23, 1991, the four warring factions in Cambodia signed a peace accord, agreeing to disarm and allow UN‐sponsored elections. Through the UN Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC), elections were held in May 1993, despite disruptive efforts by some factions. Yet conflict continues. Professor Yasuhiro Takeda of Japan's Defense University examines current possibilities for reconciliation between the Khmer Rouge and the new government in Cambodia.     

Downloaded Work,Sideloaded Work,and Financial Circumstances: The Contemporary Worker’s Experience of Equity and Need Principles

Social Justice Research - People value being paid appropriately for their work—but national surveys indicate that many working adults report a discrepancy between what they actually earn and...     

The Structure of Indigenous Food Crop Markets in sub-Saharan Africa: The Rice Market in Uganda

Using data obtained from a series of nation-wide market surveys in Uganda, this article attempts to document and assess the domestic rice market at all stages in the post-harvest marketing chain from the farm gate to metropolitan area retail outlets. The criteria used are quantities marketed, prices, marketing margins, marketing costs and net returns to traders. The results show that the regional rice markets are integrated into the national market and that on average little surplus is left for rice traders at all market stages if marketing costs are accounted for. The spontaneously developed indigenous crop market works reasonably well.     

Phases of Irrigation Development in Asian Tropics: A Case Study of the Philippines and Sri Lanka

Using data for the Philippines and Sri Lanka during the last five decades, we examine three phases of agricultural development experienced by the rice sector in insular countries in tropical monsoon Asia; the first was based on land opening, the second on new irrigation construction and the third on increasing the efficiency of the existing irrigated land base. We show that these sequential shifts were induced by changes in the relative profitability of the three major means of land development for increasing food production. Rehabilitation, water management improvement and better maintenance, which are important means of irrigation development in the latest phase, are under-invested, despite their high rates of return.     

The Political Economy of Familial Relations: The Japanese State and Families in a Changing Political Economy

This article explores the ongoing negotiation over the boundaries between the world of political economy and families by analysing the reactions and responses of the Japanese government and feminists to changes in the political economy as well as popular patterns of family forming since the 1990s. This negotiation has occurred through the transition in the political economy brought about by globalisation and neo-liberal political reforms, and the re-calibration of family and gender roles has emerged as its primary ground. As a result, Japanese women are being required to make a hasty leap from the Fordist model of family life to a more self-steering idea of the individual. This ineluctably re-calibrates the bio-political arrangement into a more advanced mechanism, while discussion of the ‘ethics of care’ has been left relatively absent. Taking up these issues, this article discusses the implications of a changing political economy on Japanese families.     

Socially optimal liability rules for firms with natural monopoly in contestable markets

This article considers the problem of socially efficient liability rules for firms in contestable markets where natural monopoly prevails due to decreasing average cost. If the fixed cost that pushes the entry-limiting price above marginal cost is large relative to the level of external harm of firms, the negligence regime is socially superior to the strict liability regime. In the opposite case, the strict liability rule may be socially superior.